Subsea pumping apparatuses and related methods

Abstract

This disclosure includes subsea pumping apparatuses and related methods. Some apparatuses include one or more subsea pumps, each having an inlet and an outlet, and one or more motors, each configured to actuate at least one pump to communicate a hydraulic fluid from the inlet to the outlet, where the subsea pumping apparatus is configured to be in fluid communication with a hydraulically actuated device of a blowout preventer. Some subsea pumping apparatuses include one or more of: a desalination system configured to produce at least a portion of the hydraulic fluid; one or more valves, each configured to selectively route hydraulic fluid from an outlet of a pump to, for example, a subsea environment, a reservoir, and/or the inlet of the pump; and a reservoir configured to store at least a portion of the hydraulic fluid. Some apparatuses are configured to be directly coupled to the hydraulically actuated device.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A subsea pumping apparatus comprising:
 two or more subsea pumps, each having an inlet and an outlet; 
 one or more motors, each configured to actuate at least one of the two or more pumps to communicate a hydraulic fluid from the inlet to the outlet; and 
 two or more valves, each in fluid communication with the outlet of at least one of the two or more pumps and configured to selectively route, when the valve is in a first position, hydraulic fluid from the outlet to a location selected from the group consisting of a subsea environment, a reservoir, and the inlet of one of the two or more pumps and configured to selectively route, when the valve is in a second position, hydraulic fluid from the outlet to the hydraulically actuated device, and not the location, 
 wherein at least one of the two or more valves is movable from the first position to the second position while at least one other of the two or more valves is in the first position, 
 wherein the subsea pumping apparatus is configured to be in direct fluid communication with a hydraulically actuated device of a blowout preventer; and 
 wherein the subsea pumping apparatus further comprises:
 a control circuit including a valve controller in electrical communication with at least one of the two or more valves and configured to adjust an output of at least one of the two or more subsea pumps by selectively varying the position of at least one of the two or more valves between the first position and the second position; and 
 a sensor configured to capture data indicative of at least one of a flow rate or a pressure, thereby permitting the valve controller to vary the position of the at least one of the two or more valves based on the captured data; 
 
 wherein the valve controller is configured to receive data captured by the sensor and compare the data to one of a known, a calculated, or a commanded hydraulic fluid pressure and/or flow rate requirement; 
 wherein the valve controller, if the data indicates that the pressure and/or flow rate is lower than the known, calculated, and/or commanded hydraulic fluid pressure and/or flow rate requirement, is configured to adjust the pressure and/or flow rate upwards by varying the position of the at least one of the two or more valves; and 
 wherein the valve controller, if the data indicates that the pressure and/or flow rate is higher than the known, calculated, and/or commanded hydraulic fluid pressure and/or flow rate requirement, is configured to adjust the outlet pressure and/or flow rate downwards by varying the position of the at least one of the two or more valves. 
 
     
     
       2. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more hydraulic stabs, each in fluid communication with at least one of the one or more pumps. 
     
     
       3. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the outlet of at least one of the two or more pumps is in fluid communication with the inlet of at least one other pump. 
     
     
       4. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more motors is configured to actuate at least two of the two or more pumps. 
     
     
       5. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more motors is coupled to at least one of the two or more pumps via a gear box. 
     
     
       6. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more motors is directly coupled to at least one of the two or more pumps such that neither a shaft seal of the at least one of the one or more motors nor a shaft seal of the at least one of the two or more pumps is exposed to the subsea environment. 
     
     
       7. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 1 , the control circuit comprising one or more motor controllers, each motor controller in electrical communication with at least one of the one or more motors and configured to selectively adjust a speed of the at least one of the one or more motors. 
     
     
       8. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein at least one of the one or more motor controllers is configured to adjust a speed of at least one of the one or more motors by selectively activating and deactivating the at least one of the one or more motors. 
     
     
       9. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 1 , comprising one or more sensors coupled to the subsea pumping apparatus and configured to capture data indicative of at least one of temperature, conductivity, pH, position, velocity, acceleration, current, and voltage. 
     
     
       10. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 9 , comprising a processor configured to control, based at least in part on the data captured by the one or more sensors, actuation of at least one of: at least one of the one or more motors and at least one of the two or more pumps. 
     
     
       11. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 detect, based at least in part on the data captured by the one or more sensors, an abnormal operation associated with one or more components including at least one of: at least one of the two or more pumps, at least one of the one or more motors, hydraulically actuated device, and blowout preventer; 
 perform a diagnostic analysis of the one or more components; and 
 control the one or more components based at least in part on at least one of the detected abnormal operation and a result of the diagnostic analysis. 
 
     
     
       12. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 1 , comprising one or more batteries coupled to the subsea pumping apparatus and configured to provide electrical power to at least one of the one or more motors. 
     
     
       13. The subsea pumping apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a processor configured to receive data captured by the sensor;
 wherein the processor is configured to detect, based at least in part on the data captured by the sensor, an abnormal operation associated with one or more components including at least one of the two or more subsea pumps, at least one of the one or more motors, the hydraulically actuated device, and the blowout preventer; 
 wherein the processor is configured to perform a diagnostic and/or prognostic analysis of at least one of the one or more components; and 
 wherein the processor is configured to control at least one of the one or more components based at least in part on at least one of the detected abnormal operation and a result of the diagnostic and/or prognostic analysis.